News - May 2002

05/30/2002

Seven SOHO comets received orbits and designations (in brackets the discoverer): C/2000 F2 (SOHO) and C/2000 F3 (SOHO) (R. Kracht), C/2001 H8 (SOHO) (X. Leprette), C/2002 J8 (SOHO) (K. Cernis), C/2002 K5 (SOHO) (M. Meyer), C/2002 K6 (SOHO) (S. Hönig) and C/2002 K7 (SOHO) (C. Dong). All are members of the Kreutz group. SOHO has now found 452 comets. (MPEC 2002-K72)

05/29/2002

New Discovery!: S. Pravdo, E. Helin, and K. Lawrence (JPL) report the discovery of a new comet in the course of the NEAT program on May 27, 2002, with the 1.2-m NEAT telescope at Haleakala. Comet C/2002 K4 (NEAT) was confirmed by NEAT images taken at Mt. Palomar on May 28, 2002. A first and preliminary orbit indicates perihelion on Aug. 08, 2002, at about 2.7 AU. The comet won't become much brighter until then. This is NEATs 21^st comet discovery. (IAUC 7909, MPEC 2002-K69)

05/25/2002

Five SOHO comets received orbits and designations: C/1998 V9 (SOHO) is an archival find by X. Leprette, C/2002 J6 (SOHO) was also found by X. Leprette near C/2002 J3 (SOHO), C/2002 J7 (SOHO) was found by R. Matson and C/2002 K3 (SOHO) by R. Kracht. These four comets are members of the Kreutz group. C/2000 C7 (SOHO) is an archival find by R. Kracht and represents the 12^th member of the Marsden group. SOHO has now found 445 new comets. (MPEC 2002-K48)

05/22/2002

New Discovery!: On May 09, 2002, the LINEAR program discovered an apparently asteroidal object, which shoed an unusual orbit and received the designation 2002 JN₁₆ (MPEC 2002-J42). C. A. Trujillo (California Institute of Technology) together with M. Brown now obtained images of the object showing a small coma. At Trujillos's request J. Tonry (Mauna Kea) obtained confirmatory images showing the comet at about 17^m. Comet P/2002 JN₁₆ (LINEAR) passes perihelion on July 23, 2002, at about 1.8 AU. The period is about 6.6 years. This is LINEARs 84^th new comet discovery (the 88^th including re-discoveries).. (IAUC 7907, MPEC 2002-K38)
I. Hasegawa and S. Nakano have calculated orbital elements for possible earlier apparitions of comet C/2002 C1 (Ikeya-Zhang). After identifying a candidate seen in February 877, mentioned in Japanese and European writings (cf. G. Kronk's "Cometography I", page 138ff.) they came up with another candidate, seen in February 1273, and mentioned in Japanese and Korean texts (ibid., page 223). Already in March K. Muraoka produced possible earlier orbits for C/2002 C1, but the new orbits seem to be a much better link. The identities were first proposed by J. Shanklin (877) and H. Sato (1273). (Comets Mailing List)

05/18/2002

New Discovery!: On May 16, 2002, the LINEAR program discovered another apparently asteroidal object which was again found to be cometary on images taken at Klet. A first orbit for the 18^m comet C/2002 K2 (LINEAR) indicates a perihelion on Sep. 29, 2002, at about 5.2 AU. This is LINEARs 83^rd new comet discovery. (IAUC 7904, MPEC 2002-K18)

New Discovery!:

On May 15, 2002, the LINEAR program discovered an apparently asteroidal object which was found to be cometary on images by M. Tichy and M. Kocer (Klet). Prediscovery images by NEAT and LINEAR of August 2001, were also found. A first orbit for the 18^m comet C/2002 J5 (LINEAR) shows a perihelion on Sep. 19, 2003, at about 5.7 AU. (IAUC 7904, MPEC 2002-K16)
A first orbit for the new comet C/2002 K1 (NEAT) shows a perihelion on Apr. 30, 2002, at about 3.2 AU. This is NEATs 20^th new comet discovery. (IAUC 7904, MPEC 2002-K17)

05/17/2002

New Discovery!: K. Lawrence, E. Helin, and S. Pravdo (JPL) report the discovery of a new comet in the course of the NEAT program on May 16, 2002, 1.2-m NEAT telescope at Haleakala. Comet 2002 K1 was confirmed by E. S. Barker (McDonald Observatory). No orbit for the 18^m comet is available yet; a search ephemeris can be generated on the NEO Confirmation Page. (IAUC 7902)

05/14/2002

New Discovery!: S. Pravdo, E. Helin, and K. Lawrence (JPL) report the discovery of a new comet in the course of the NEAT program on May 13, 2002. After posting the object on the NEO Confirmation Page confirming observations were obtained. Prediscovery observations by LONEOS and LINEAR of May 4, 7, and 8, were also identified by the MPC. The first and preliminary orbital elements for comet C/2002 J4 (NEAT) indicate a perihelion on Oct. 1, 2003, at about 3.6 AU. The now 16.5^m comet may get as bright as 13^m in summer/fall 2003 then located at southern declinations. This is NEATs 19^th new comet discovery. (IAUC 7899, MPEC 2002-J47)
The 440^th SOHO comet was detected by K. Cernis. C/2002 J3 (SOHO) is a member of the Kreutz group. (IAUC 7899, MPEC 2002-J46)
On May 09, 2002, the LINEAR program discovered an asteroid moving in an orbit which is typical for short period comets. The 17^m asteroid 2002 JM₉₇ showed until now no sign of cometary activity and passes perihelion in mid-July at about 1.25 AU. It is closest to Earth (about 0.35 AU) at this time, too. It will then become only slightly brighter. The period is about 4.6 years. (MPEC 2002-J50)

05/11/2002

Three archival SOHO comets received orbits and designations: C/1998 V8 (SOHO) and C/1998 W7 (SOHO) are archival finds by R. Kracht and represent the 18^th and 19^th member of the Meyer group. C/1998 X12 (SOHO) was detected by M. Meyer and is a member of the Kreutz group. SOHO has now found 439 new comets. (MPEC 2002-J39)

05/10/2002

New Discovery!: An apparently asteroidal object, discovered on Jan. 21, 2002, by William Kwong Yeung (Benson, AZ, USA) and designated 2002 BV was identified by the MPC with additional asteroidal observations by Spacewatch and LINEAR of 1998, 2000 and 2001 (2001 CB₄₀). Aware of the unusual orbit T. Spahr with M. Calkins obtained several observations of this object on May 5 to 7, 2002, which showed it to be a 17^m comet. Comet P/2002 BV (Yeung) passed perihelion already on Mar 11, 2002, at about 2.2 AU. It has a period of about 6.6 years. This is the fourth amateur comet discovery in 2002. (IAUC 7896, MPEC 2002-J34)
The 436^th new SOHO comet was found by R. Kracht. C/2002 J2 (SOHO) is a member of the Kreutz group. (MPEC 2002-J29)

05/03/2002

New Discovery!: An apparenty asteroidal object, discovered on Mar. 13, 2002, by the LINEAR program and designated 2002 EJ₅₇ has been identified as a short periodic comet. After finding additional observations of Mar 10 and 12, 2002, the object showed an unusual orbit and it was therefore placed on the NEO Confirmation Page. J. Ticha and M. Tichy (Klet) and R. H. McNaught (Siding Spring) were then able to reveal the cometary nature of this 18.5^m object. Comet P/2002 EJ₅₇ (LINEAR) passed perihelion already in December 2001, at a distance of about 2.6 AU. The period is about 16.6 years. This is LINEARs 81^st new comet discovery. (IAUC 7890, MPEC 2002-J06)
Two SOHO comets, both found by R. Kracht, received orbits and designations: C/2000 N4 (SOHO) is the 17^th member of the Meyer group. C/2002 J1 (SOHO) is a member of the Kreutz group. (MPEC 2002-J09)